On Saturday morning we woke up at 5am to get ready for the day. We got up, dressed and something to eat within the next hour and were out the hotel doors by 6am. We then proceeded down the street to get on the S-Bahn and headed towards the Oktoberfest festival.
As we got off our train stop we were a little nervous because we did not know quite where we were going. However, the swarms of people in lederhosen and dirndl's moving in one direction was a quite obvious arrow as to where to go.
Carnival was hopping already at 7am
We were at the festival just before 7 and were waiting "in line" by 7am. We chose to go to the Hofbrau tent because it is one of the most famous and previous friends studying abroad have told us it is a lot of fun. The reason "in line" is in quotation marks is because there was no line, just a mass of people waiting outside the door. The place was completely full shortly after we arrived, and luckily I snagged this picture the second we got there because if I had waited any longer you could not have moved far enough away to get all of us in.
Waiting: Me, Caitlin, Clare, Betsy, Nicole
The outside of the Hofbrau Tent
Once the doors open there was a mad rush of people to get inside and grab a table. The tent holds over 10,000 people but the day is much more enjoyable if you and your friends can all have a place to sit and convene at. Luckily the Holy Cross students were fast and we snagged a great table! There were at least fifteen of us at the beginning and more joined us later. It was a lot of fun to have some Holy Cross pride again, even if we were in Germany.
This is us VERY excited after we grabbed our table. Everyone who managed to get one was dancing and rejoicing, it was a lot of fun.
Betsy, Clare, Me, Caitlin
The inside of the tent at 9:01am
Within minutes one of the waitresses was over with beers and seconds after that a man with a basket of pretzels came by, and we were ready to go! It is amazing how the waitresses can carry 10 steins with them at one time, maneuvering through a crowd this big all the while holding the steins which are incredibly heavy.
Caitlin and Me holding the most delicious pretzel I have ever eaten in my life
In case you could not tell how large the pretzels are here is a reference point, it is 2x the size of my face!
My HB Beer
After a long day the group decided we had had enough (food, beer and excitement) at 3pm and we all headed in separate directions. My group went back to the hotel to decompress a little bit. However, at around 7pm we decided to go back to the festival and explore what else it has to offer outside the beer tents.
Round 2: Oktoberfest at night
We walked up and down the massive strip lined with everything you could think of from games, to gingerbread, to gelato and much more. I grabbed a bratwurst and some roasted nuts coated in vanilla. Honestly I think I bought them because they looked like muddy buddies and although they did not taste like them, they were good.
We ate and walked and eventually we made it down to the end of the road where all the rides were. We decided to go on the Ferris Wheel to get a better view of the festival, and retrospectively that was a great idea.
Inside the box (almost like a ski chalet) of the ferris wheel
View of the carnival all lit up at night, beautiful!
All in all it was the most exhausting day of my life, but a lot of fun! I don't think I could ever do it again but I am so glad that I got to experience the infamous Oktoberfest at least once. I will forever be dreaming of those pretzels and I doubt I will ever eat one as good again, but that is a small price to pay for such a great weekend.
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